Pacific School of Religion U.S.

Pacific School of Religion

Since its founding in 1866, Pacific School of Religion (PSR) has served as a multi-denominational Christian seminary. PSR stands at a remarkable crossroads of faith and learning communities. Located in the broadly diverse San Francisco Bay Area on the axis of the continental United States and the Pacific Rim, PSR offers an unparalleled view of global relationships and currents of cultural change. Throughout its history, PSR has been on the cutting edge of emerging movements for change in the Christian tradition, representing an early voice for the equality of women, resisting racial prejudice and war, and advocating for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and the economically disadvantaged.

PSR has formal relationships with three denominations: the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Half of PSR’s students come from these three traditions. Other PSR students come from faith traditions as diverse as Quaker, Unitarian Universalist, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and several other mainline denominations and new religious movements.

PSR’s faculty members represent a wide spectrum of denominational and cultural backgrounds. In addition to traditional seminary subjects like bible, church history, theology, ethics, pastoral care, and worship leadership, PSR’s faculty specialize in subjects as diverse as art and religion, sexuality, and world religions, and are particularly concerned with issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, and economic justice.

PSR participates in the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), an ecumenical consortium of nine theological schools with a combined student body of 1,300 and faculty of 130. PSR students use the GTU’s Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, one of the largest theological libraries in the United States, and may choose from over 700 courses offered at GTU member schools. PSR is located one block away from the University of California, Berkeley, where students have access to resources of one of the world’s great research universities.

PSR connects with diverse faith and learning communities throughout the world through the work of its more than 2,000 alumni/ae. The majority of alums serve faith communities through parish ministry, but others serve in non-profit management, global religious outreach, denominational government, counseling and social work, journalism, film and television production, and as professors and scholars.

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